Sunday, March 22, 2015

The Bare-Knuckle Fighter, now as PDF and with an Introduction for your Gaming Pleasure

With this I proudly present the Bare-Knuckle Fighter pdf. For those following the blog, it's what I've talked about here and here, but now it's a 3 pages document, somewhat resembling what one could call a product. And free, at that.


Cover of the Bare-Knuckle Fighter
It is still beta v. 0.4, but it works. I already saw some typos I forgot to correct (three or four, please tell me if you find more) and one box isn't just sitting where it should (okay, it's not even a Millimeter ...). But I felt that it needed to be out there anyway, since the game itself works and at one point a few days distance allow a fresh start, so I'll tackle it again end of next week. And it'll get a new home in the download section above.

Let's talk Expansions

The last few days I tinkered with it, I already got some ideas how to expand on the Bare-Knuckle Fighter. Instead of implementing weapons next, I'd go for some brawling. It's actually quite easy, basically it needs four more drop die options (Pick up Item, Change Opponent and Bind Opponent*, all of which might be countered, of course), an additional Delay rule (Cooperation, instead of delaying a die to the next round, you might cooperate with a friend to create a double, not a triple, though) and some rules for improvised weapons (improvised weapons deal direct Health damage, a glass would deal one damage die, a chair could have two damage dies for one attack, both are items to be used once).

Initiative is rolled the same way, but I need to think about ties. Distribution begins then with the lowest initiative and among the first actions should be a die drop to engage an opponent. This works without a board (you drop a die for movement ...) and should be a hoot with a group of players punching left and right, where opportunity takes them ...

After that it'll be about Duels and finally skirmish rules, expanding on all of that. A martial arts supplement is possible, too. But that'll take some time (at least setting up some documents for it will). I'll keep you posted.

Gallery of unused pictures

The book I got the pictures from is Boxing, and how to train by Sam C. Austen (published 1904**). I found it over at the open library and it's a poor gold mine for the pictures and the advertisements alone. If you feel like it, check it out (that online reader is a real gimmick, too). Here are some pictures from it I didn't use:





Have fun with the Bare-Knuckle Fighter! I'd be glad to answer any questions about the rules and would be very happy to hear from people that actually tested it, of course.


*A fifth option could be drinking some shots to get some temporary Health back. Need to think about that oné ...

** This needs to be in the public domain by now, am I right?

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